Hugh Jackman reveals he turned down a part in Cats movie

Hugh Jackman has admitted that he turned down an opportunity to star in the Cats movie.

Jackman, 51, who was nominated for Best Actor at the 2013 Academy Awards after starring in director Tom Hooper’s film adaptation of Les Miserables, said that he “just wasn’t available at the time.”

"You know, Tom rang me early on because we did Les Mis together, and there were a couple of options there based on availability and time, and I really… yeah, I just wasn't available at the time," he told the Daily Beast.

Anticipating detractors suggesting that he may have dodged a bullet by missing out on appearing in the critically-derided flop, Jackman said that he wasn’t going to “bash” the movie and hailed Hooper as a “great filmmaker.”

"I'm in the theatre, man, and I don't want to be in the business of bashing people — or jumping on bandwagons," he said.

"I haven’t seen it, and Tom Hooper's one of the great filmmakers we have."

Jackman is not the only Les Mis alum to have a close brush with Cats. His castmate Anne Hathaway, who won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 2013 for her performance as Fantine, was also rumoured to be in talks to star in the movie.

Cats star Rebel Wilson later revealed that Hathaway recorded a “test video” for Hooper wearing cat prosthetics.

A recently released director’s commentary for the film, which arrived in cinemas in December, saw Hooper attempt to shed some light on some of Cats’ odd creative choices.

He claimed that his much-discussed use of “digital fur technology” to transform stars into anthropomorphised cats allowed him to “capture live dance” while preserving facial expressions.

“I must admit I’ve actually tried bowing down to a cat and saying ‘Oh, cat’ just in the slight hope that it might unleash the cat to talk to me,” he added.

“It hasn’t worked yet, but I will continue trying.”